A sad story out of Columbus accompanies the restart to the Major League Soccer regular season. Thankfully, the latest reports are somewhat positive, but after a fan was struck by lighting outside Crew Stadium before tonight’s game between Columbus and Dallas, the match has been officially postponed.

For over an hour-and-a-half after the scheduled kickoff time (8:00 p.m. Eastern), the match had been delayed due to weaterh conditions, but that caution has led to rescheduling Saturday’s game after tragedy nearly transpired in the parking lot.

There, an off-duty fire fighter was struck by lightning just before the scheduled kickoff time, with NBC4i.com reporting the victim was in cardiac arrest at the time he was transported to Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.

NBC4i.com has also confirmed the victim, a lieutenant for The Columbus Division of Fire, he has since been resuscitated by is listed in critical condition.

The Columbus Crew announced the postponement via the team’s Twitter account:

UPDATE - Tonight’s #Crew96 contest is being postponed due to extenuating circumstances. Tickets will be honored for the re-sechduled match.